


A Cold Night

by Chillyrose



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Slow Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 15:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18391625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillyrose/pseuds/Chillyrose
Summary: Heidi and her team go out to Emprise du lion but the weather has other plans.Wrote this for an assignment for school ^.^





	A Cold Night

They had been there before and it would be just as it had, but for some reason, Heidi, the mage that would be able to save them all, had to return with her friends. Once again there were sightings of Red Templars in the snowy mountains of Emprise Du Lion. Her skin prickled and crawled with goose bumps just thinking about them. Red Templars were no joking matter, They were soldiers with extraordinary power and abilities from extracted red lyrium, incredibly toxic and harmful, it allows them to hurt anyone in their path.

  
Dorian, Heidi’s best friend seemed to flaunt with every word, “Emprise du Lion. The coldest place on this maker forsaken world. And why are we doing this again? Can’t we just....not bother them again?”   
  
Heidi smirked as she put on her regular dalish garb that she always wore.   
She had to wear boots because of the snow which she wasn’t used to. Dorian glared at her and gave her a once over,   
  
“Are you sure about wearing that? It’s pretty cold out.”   
  
Heidi looked at Dorian, oblivious to the newly greyed clouds outside, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I don’t mind the cold”   
  
Dorian helped pick up Heidi’s packed bag, and headed outside. Awaiting them was her other companion the Iron Bull and her heart fluttered at the sight of one other.   
  
“Cole! Good to see you’ve changed your mind about coming. The snows not bothering you, is it?”   
  
Cole stared at her, almost looking through her for a moment before realizing she was talking to him,   
  
“Oh. I don’t mind the cold. I didn’t want to worry about you all getting tangled, twisted up in their red foul claws. The Red Templars need to stop. We must help.”   
  
They both stared at each other for a moment before they heard the deep cough of their friend, Iron Bull.   
  
“Are we going to stand around all day or shall we get a move on. My chest is freezing.”

  
Early on into their journey to Emprise du lion, Heidi could barely feel the tips of her fingers and toes as the winds only began to get worse. With each passing minute, the snow grew thicker, and her shivers grew stronger. Dorian noticed and tried to insist on heading back,   
  
“The least we can do is say, well, we tried. But this bloody storm’s got worse.”   
  
Bull laughed, “What, are your footsies getting cold already?”   
  
“My footsies are perfectly fine thank you. It’s my will that’s slowly dying. Now, can we please stop for a moment. I just need to warm up my hands.”   
  
Bull smirked and gently patted Dorian on the bottom, “Sure thing, boss.”   
  
Dorian glowed bright red from his position and Heidi couldn’t help but giggle, until she felt a cough form. Cole stood closer to her and noticed her try to hide it.   
  
“Are you alright?”   
  
Heidi covered the oncoming cough that sat in her chest, “I’m-fine. Just need some rest soon.”

 

Cole didn’t seem to hear her words, “Please, we should find shelter. The storm, it rages on. Hungry, brutal, bitter, never ending. It hunts for the warmth. There must be somewhere we can hide out until it passes.”   


The Iron bull and Cole scouted ahead to find somewhere for them to hide out until the storm passes.

 

Dorian and Heidi huddled together moving slowly forward.

 

“I told you this would happen. Look at you, you’re an icicle.”

 

Heidi looked down at her feet, “I’m used to the cold, but maybe not this cold.”

 

She shivered and attempted to warm up her arms by rubbing them. Dorian put part of his cloak around her, “Let’s go”

 

“Over here!”

 

Cole found a rather large cave that kept the chilling wind at bay. They all followed him to the cave and began setting up their makeshift camp. With the help of Dorian’s magic, Bull started a fire further back into the cave. Heidi relished in the heat, “That feels better,” she said as she attempted to warm her hands by the fire.

As the sun started to set, they all had gathered around the fire and ate the provisions they brought with them. They talked and laughed until the night had completely taken over. Feeling relatively warmer, Heidi looked over at Dorian and the Iron Bull and noticed they were flirting and getting close. Feeling awkward, Heidi got up and went over to the tent they had near the mouth of the cave. She looked out into the beautiful but very cold winter scene softly singing to herself. Suddenly, Cole came up beside her.

 

“Oh, hey Cole! What’s up?”

 

Cole gave the elf a concerned look, “why are you out here instead of by the fire?”

 

Heidi looked back down the cave and noticed Bull and Dorian were nowhere to be seen.

 

“Oh, well. Dorian and Bull looked like they were getting close so I thought I would give them some space.”

 

Cole moved closer to her, “here.”

 

He took off his coat and put it around Heidi’s shoulders. She managed to stutter out to him, “Oh...Th-thanks Cole but you don’t have to! Really I’m fine! Don’t worry about me.”

 

Cole gave her a small smile, “You’ve been cold all day but you didn’t want to bother us. You can wear my coat until we get back.”

 

Heidi blushed, “are you sure?”

 

“I’m sure.”

 

He smiled at her and she suddenly felt really warm. Her next words spilled out at a faster than intended speed.

 

“Well I’m going to bed now okay so good night Vhenan!”

 

She turned to leave, then Cole said, “Vhe-nan?”

 

Heidi threw her hands over her mouth, panicked, then turned back around.

 

“Oh...yeah it’s like an elven word for….. _friend_.. yeah”

 

Cole questioned her “We are friends?”

 

“Of course we are! _Ar lath ma, vhenan._ ”

 

She walked off with her heart pounding and a blushing smile on her face, _“I can’t believe I said that out loud!”_ She whispered to herself knowing full well the word Vhenan didn’t quite mean ‘friend’. _Ar lath ma, Vhenan_ meant I love you, my heart. Those words echoed in her mind as she always thought them but this was the first time she said it out loud.

Heidi changed out of her elven gear into her nightgown and laid down on her sleeping roll with Cole’s coat still wrapped around her. She giggled to herself,

 

_Creators I can’t believe I’m wearing his coat! It smells like him too! Dorian would laugh at me if he saw me like this._

 

She felt her face go red from thinking about her friend’s reaction to her bliss. She turned on her side and blew out the candle illuminating the small tent.

 

Cole was standing outside keeping watch since he was the only one who didn’t sleep due to his special circumstance. He’d slept before back when he thought he needed to, but since the truth came out about what he was, he realized sleeping wasn’t necessary for a spirit such as himself. As he stood there nearby a tree, the wind started to pick up again and it got even colder. Through the heavy snowfall, Cole squinted as he looked back at their camp, and it was just out of the winds grasp. He made his way back to camp, frozen. No one was around and he didn’t sense any Red Templars so they were probably safe. _For now_ , he thought.

 

He was at the mouth of the cave when he heard some noises coming from further down the cave. From what he was getting from Dorian and Iron Bull’s thoughts, he decided to leave them alone. Seeing no other option, he made his way to the tent that Heidi was staying in. He quietly let himself in the tent and sat down. Cole looked over at Heidi and saw she was asleep. She looked so serene and beautiful it made his chest feel tight. He looked away, confused about how he was feeling. _I should talk to Varric about this later,_ he said to himself. Suddenly, his train of thought derailed as he heard her voice.

 

“Cole, is that you?” She said with a yawn.

 

“Sorry, it was cold out and they are doing something in the cave.”

 

Heidi gave a small giggle, “Oh wow, no, it's okay. You can stay here. There’s an extra bedroll if you want— oh you don’t sleep do you..?”

 

Cole grabbed the bedroll, “Not really, but I’ll use it anyway.”

 

He laid the blankets down next to hers. Heidi blushed and turned away as Cole laid down next to her. The feeling in his chest wasn’t going away.

A few hours later, Heidi was fast asleep. She was facing him again and he couldn’t stop staring at her. He noticed she was still wearing his coat. Was she still _that_ cold? Cole moved a bit closer and put half of his blankets over her. He was now inches away from her face. A strand of her curly hair fell over her face, without even realizing what he was doing, he tucked it behind her lovely pointed ear. His hand lingered a bit over her cheek, wanting to know how it felt. He rubbed his thumb over her scar without thinking. _She’s so soft_.

Suddenly, she moved and he pulled his hand away quickly, afraid she’d wake up. She opened her eyes a bit, still half asleep. She smiled, nestled her head under his chin and put her small hand against his chest. Wide eyed, Cole stared down at her in shock not knowing what to do. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Cole settled down and wrapped an arm around her after he saw her shudder from the cold. Before he knew it, he fell asleep for the first time in years.

Coles eyes snapped open and he looked around the tent confused. The sun was rising. _Did I … sleep?_ He looked down and noticed the beautiful elf was neatly tucked in his embrace, sleeping soundly with a small smile on her lips. His chest started to feel weird again like it had last night. Maybe he had caught some illness? Either way, Cole reluctantly detached himself from Heidi’s sleeping form. She stirred slightly, then rolled over. Cole smiled at her and left the tent to go outside to watch the sunrise.

With the sun peeking over the horizon, Heidi woke with a big yawn. She sat up and looked around the tent. _Hmm, I guess he left,_ she thought to herself, as Cole was no longer in the tent. She blushed at the thought of them sharing a tent and she shook her head. _Get it together, Adelaide,_ she thought as she lightly slapped her own face. Heidi got up to put her gear back on and packed up a few things. After changing, she grabbed Coles coat and left the tent to go find him and return it. She went out and she noticed Bull and Dorian were not awake yet, but she noticed Cole standing by a tree looking out on the horizon.

 

“Good morning Cole!” She beamed, “how was your night?”

 

“I...uh...it was good..” he looked slightly startled as he stumbled out his words.

“That’s great! Here, you can have this back. It’s not so cold out today, thank the creators.”

 

She smiled and handed him his coat.

 

“Oh thank you. Are you sure?” He asked.

 

“Yeah! Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

 

Cole smiled at her, “It’s no problem. I like to help.”

 

Just then, the Iron Bull and Dorian emerged from the cave. “Okay kids, let’s get this show on the road!!” Bull yelled, smirking.

 

Dorian covered his ears, “Would you mind not yelling so early in the morning?”

 

Bull gave a devilish grin, “You weren’t complaining last night.”

 

Dorian covered his face with his palm as Heidi, Cole and Bull laughed.

 

“So shall we be on our way?” Heidi giggled.

 

Cole shook his head and watched her run up to Dorian. They started chatting like they always do, but then Dorian said something and started laughing as Heidi looked flustered. _Cute,_ Cole thought to himself. He started to put on his coat and noticed something different about it. _It… smells like her._ Cole tugged the coat on and enjoyed its now lovely lavender scent.

 


End file.
